Mission
Oakland University (OU) Recreation and Well-Being (Rec Well) has a 26-year history of shaping the campus culture by providing students, faculty, staff and community members opportunities to develop their minds and bodies through powerful programs impacting the entire campus community. The mission of Rec Well is to lead the campus community toward a life-long commitment to well-being by offering inclusive programs, services and facilities that promote student development and create a connection to Oakland University.
Description of Facilities
Rec Well is housed in the Recreation Center which includes more than 118,000 square feet of facility space for aquatics, fitness, sports, recreation and wellness programming. Rec Well prides itself in offering open recreation and a wide range of programs and activities for students, employees and patrons to enjoy. It also hosts various campus events such as New Student Convocation, commencement ceremonies, Horizon League, high school and community swim and dive meets, and various community rentals.
Recreation Center
The Recreation Center is a one-stop shop for the OU community. Since 1998, the Rec Center has been one of the only facilities to serve the entire OU community by offering:
- Free access to all OU students enrolled in at least one credit hour.
- Free access to OU benefits-eligible employees and retirees.
- Affordable memberships for alumni and community members.
- Rental and event space for campus and community use.
The Rec Center includes:
- A fitness center and fitness annex housing over 100 pieces of cardiovascular, strength and selectorized machines along with bodyweight training and equipment.
- A three-court gym.
- Two studio spaces for group exercise classes and events.
- A cycling studio for classes and personal workouts.
- A multipurpose activity center for pickup games and Rec Well Sports programming.
- Two racquetball courts.
- A four-lane indoor run/walk track.
- A cardio loft area.
- Two classroom spaces.
- A wellness suite for walk-in health and well-being questions, nutrition consultations, and wellness coaching.
Aquatic Center
The aquatic center features a 50-meter stretch pool including a diving well with five different platforms. The pool can be turned into eight, 25-meter lanes for OU NCAA Division 1 Men’s and Women’s swim teams. Use of the pool is included in the membership fee for all students and members, giving them the opportunity to partake in open swim hours.
The Recreation and Athletic Outdoor Complex
The primary use of the Recreation and Athletic Outdoor Complex (RAOC) is for Rec Well Sports, Club Sports and numerous rental groups’ programming, practices and competitions.
The space includes:
- Five multipurpose, turf fields.
- Eight tennis courts.
- An eight-lane track and infield.
- An 18-hole disc golf course.
Fitness Court
The Priority Health Fitness Court, opened in 2019 as part of the National Fitness Campaign (NFC) movement to provide free fitness and outdoor recreation to help with excitement around health and wellness. OU was the first higher education institution in Michigan to install an NFC Fitness Court. The Fitness Court is a free-to-use, outdoor, circuit-based training facility perfect for all levels of fitness.
Programming Highlights
Rec Well offers a variety of fitness, well-being, sports and recreational programming for students, faculty, staff and community members. Programs encourage engagement in pursuing personal health and well-being goals.
A traditional group fitness class schedule – including 28 different class formats every week – an ongoing personal training program and traditional Intramural Sports are offered each semester. Some highlights of programming in all areas include:
Rec Well Sports
- In FY24, Rec Well hosted 22 Intramural Sports programs and events.
- 26 club sports teams represent OU locally, regionally and nationally.
- The current most popular Rec Sports are Fantasy Bachelor and Bachelorette, various cooking competitions, and esports tournaments.
- A new program for this fall includes a track day competition.
Fitness
- An annual stair climb event – co-hosted with OU Veterans Support Services and local fire departments – encourages participants to wear firefighter gear while climbing as many flights of stairs as possible in honor and remembrance of the 9/11 events.
- Collaboration on a campus-wide Golden Grizzlies Lead workshop titled Fitness and Women’s Health, Cycle Syncing.
- Recharge, an eight-week lifestyle change program that offers one educational webinar and two personal training sessions per week for all participants.
- WERQ Dance Fitness, a group exercise class using the latest hip-hop and pop hits and choreography.
Student Well-Being
- The Green Bandana Project continues campus-wide with over 4,500 students, faculty and staff receiving bandanas with information and resources to support individuals with mental health needs.
- Free wellness coaching offered to all students.
- New in FY24 were a Fire Truck Pull and Push Ups For A Purpose programming. In the Fire Truck Pull, teams of five donated items to the OU Golden Grizzlies Food Pantry and competed to pull a fire truck 75 feet in the shortest amount of time. Push Ups For A Purpose raises awareness for the 132 deaths that occur by suicide daily in the U.S.
Employee Well-Being
- 16 OU departments achieved gold, silver or bronze status as a Certified-Healthy Department by completing health and well-being requirements in seven different categories.
- In response to a highly reported ergonomic insurance spend by the OU employee population, Rec Well developed a collaboration with the OU School of Health Sciences PT program to provide ergonomic assessments for faculty and staff. In the first year, 71 assessments for faculty and staff were completed.
- Free wellness coaching and one-on-one nutrition consultations are offered semesterly to all faculty and staff.
Fun Facts
- Based on participation, the top five IM Sports at OU during 2023-24 were:
- Basketball
- Indoor Soccer
- Volleyball
- Flag Football
- Outdoor Soccer
- Based on participation, the top 5 Club Sports at OU during 2023-24 were:
- Ballroom Dance
- Football
- DIII Hockey
- Women’s Soccer
- Women’s Lacrosse
- Pet Therapy is currently the top well-being program offered with more than 1,700 unique individuals stopping per academic year to engage with a therapy dog at different events and locations on campus.
Social Media Handles
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